The state of California, like every other state, has some regulations for the construction of buildings. The California Green Building Standards Code, also called the CALGreen Code, constitutes part 11 of these regulations. The CALGreen is also the first green building code of the USA that has been implemented statewide.

This code aims to improve the health and safety of the residents of California by augmenting the planning and construction of buildings. The resulting plans and designs of the buildings are intended to have a lesser negative environmental impact. Apart from planning and construction, this code also aims to impact the fields of energy efficiency, water conservation, resource efficiency and material conservation, and environmental quality. Santa Monica contractors, Pacific Palisades contractors as well as Malibu contractors are all supposed to abide by this code.

Categories in the CALGreen

The CALGreen Code aims to bring improvement in the following categories:

Use of Land: The population of the US has increased a lot, and is still increasing. The CALGreen Code aims to optimize the use of land for the residents of California.

Use of Water: Water is a scarce resource and the majority of the US population suffers from water shortage, and the condition is worse in California where the scarcity of water is increasing by the day.

Atmosphere and Air: Commercial as well as industrial buildings in the US contribute to 38% of the nation’s carbon dioxide content in the air. They also waste a lot of energy in the forms of electricity and gas.

Wastage of Materials: Construction and demolition of buildings in the US contributes to 170 million tons of waste. This value will constantly rise unless there is a check applied to it.

Provisions in the CALGreen

Provisions for the residential properties are contained in chapter 4, while the provisions for the commercial properties are contained in chapter 5 of the CALGreen. The provisions address factors like rain water recycling, control of finishing material pollutants, acoustical control for noise pollution, etc. It also requires that 50% of the construction or demolition waste should be salvaged or recycled.

These provisions are made for all types of buildings including state-owned buildings, low-rise residential buildings, buildings for educational and medical purposes, and historical structures and buildings. These provisions are also directed towards the energy efficiency regulations which are issued by the California Energy Commission (CEC), and the gray water systems, which are regulated by the Department of Water Resources of California